Formation of a communication group, especially in service industries, such as, public safety, is common. Communication groups allow several users in the group to communicate with one another and may be formed based on factors including a location of an incident, a membership list, or the like.
In order to form a communication group, communication devices affiliate to the desired communication group that has been created. Communication devices can affiliate with any number of communication groups. Methods for enabling users to affiliate with a communication group vary depending on the specificity of the device. For example, land mobile radios have large communication group selector knobs placed at the top of the radio which can affiliate the communication device to a particular, predetermined group. In another example, typical broadband communication devices, such as smart-phones or personal digital assistants, allow users of the communication device to select a communication group through a typical menu-driven user interface, such as, an address book. The user must interact with the user interface through various means, such as a thumbwheel, a roller ball, arrow keys, selector buttons, a touch screen, or the like.
Relatedly, various physical motions, as means of interacting with a device, have been proposed. In these solutions, an accelerometer is used to detect a motion of the device to manipulate the user interface. For example, in one method, users scroll through menus and make menu selections based on detecting a motion of the device. In another solution, a method for simultaneously shaking two devices to associate them in a personal area network is disclosed. Neither of these two methods, however, provides an easy way for public safety users to quickly and easily affiliate to a specific new dynamic group that is being formed.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of various embodiments. In addition, the description and drawings do not necessarily require the order illustrated.
It will be further appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. Apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the various embodiments so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. Thus, it will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, common and well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment may not be depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments.